At swimmers' training bases in Eastern Europe this summer,
three UC Berkeley students, three alumni and an incoming
freshman have been preparing together for the sports event
of their lives – the 2004 Summer Olympic Games.

But while each of these top-notch athletes is associated
with the UC Berkeley men's swim team, when they arrive
in Athens this week for the Aug. 13-29 games they will
become opponents, representing the countries of their roots
– Croatia, Poland, Lithuania, Serbia-Montenegro, Slovenia
and Malaysia.

"They will be competing against each other," said
UC Berkeley men's co-head swim coach Mike Bottom, who has
been with these seven swimmers since June, in a recent
overseas phone interview. "Yet, they'd rather be competing
against each other than against anyone else."

Duje Draganja (top) and Milorad
Cavic

The UC Berkeley men's swim team "is a great example
of Cal diversity," said Duje Draganja, a UC Berkeley
senior, via e-mail from Croatia. "We have almost the
same number of foreigners as Americans, so it's really
fun to train together and swim with people who have completely
different opinions and are from different regimes."

In addition to Draganja, the young men heading from Eastern
Europe to Greece are Milorad Cavic, a junior on Serbia-Montenegro's
team; alumnus Alex Lim, swimming for Malaysia; alumnus
Bart Kizierowski, on Poland's team; sophomore Rolandas
Gimbutis, swimming for Lithuania; Gordon Kozulj, an alumnus
also on Croatia's team; and Godec Jernejgodec, an incoming
freshman, on the Slovenian team.

Bottom said Draganja and Cavic, both 6' 5" teammates
and good friends, would race against each other in at least
one Olympic event. Cavic, raised in Anaheim, has parents
who hail from Serbia – known for its bitter past with Draganja's
native country, Croatia.

"We've never once judged each other based on the
opinions of the countries we swim for," e-mailed Cavic
earlier this summer from Slovenia. He said Draganja saw
the violence firsthand as a teenager.

"Our families have met before, and I have visited
him in (Croatia) for leisure," said Cavic. "We
try our best to keep politics out of sport."

"They laugh, then they spar, then they tell each
other jokes. It's like watching a couple of lion cubs wrestling
around," said Bottom. "They support each other
in everything they do … Swimming is the common denominator
with all these guys."

In addition to the swimmers who have been practicing in
Eastern Europe, other Cal-affiliated male swimmers at the
Olympics will include Ricky Barbosa, a junior, and alumnus
Renato Gueraldi, both swimming for Brazil; Daniel Lysaught,
a sophomore on Australia's team; junior Miguel Molina,
swimming for the Philippines; alumnus Ratapong Sirisanont,
swimming for Thailand; and sophomore Jonas Tilly, who will
swim for Sweden.

The fact that these student-athletes aren't swimming for
the United States doesn't bother Coach Bottom at all. "When
they have an opportunity to represent another country," he
said, "I encourage them to get as much experience
as they can."

A coach on a mission

Bottom, one of the world's top sprint coaches, said he
pushes his Cal swimmers to go for the gold in part because
he was a 1980 Olympic swimmer who never got to compete.
That was the year the United States Olympic Committee boycotted
the Moscow Olympic Games.

"As a result, my passion is to get as many guys as
I can to go," said Bottom, who coached the two American
swimmers who tied for a gold medal in the 2000 Olympic
Games in Sydney – UC Berkeley alumnus Anthony Ervin and
Gary Hall, Jr.

Bottom added that he "interjects (striving to be
an Olympian) into every swimmers' thought pattern because
it's the ultimate."

He said he enjoys being overseas with great UC Berkeley
student-athletes because they help him recruit new swimmers.
This summer in Slovenia and Croatia, he led a World Sprint
Team that included the Cal swimmers.

"Whenever I'm with great Cal athletes, that's recruiting," said
Bottom, who at UC Berkeley runs the men's swim team with
head coach Nort Thornton. "Part of it is selfish– I want Cal to have great athletes in the future. The Eastern
European guys are really interested in bettering themselves
academically and athletically. They want a degree, they
want to graduate, and then to go back to their countries
to do something with it."

Bottom also coaches swimmers off campus because he feels
he has much to offer them as a specialty sprint coach,
preparing them for races of 100 meters or less. Cavic called
Bottom a "sprint guru."

"I was the best in the world as a high school senior," said
Bottom, "but I didn't swim my best until after college
because of a coach that didn't know how to coach sprinters."

Inspired by two fathers

Cavic, 20, who calls Bottom "a second father," was
born in California just months after his parents arrived
there from Serbia. They were seeking, he said, "the
land of opportunity and a better life." At age 6,
he learned to swim, but didn't join a swim team until he
was 9. He initially thought competitive swimming took a
lot of fun out of being in the pool.

But his father, Dusko, wouldn't let him quit, especially
after his son proved how skilled he was in the water.

"My father has watched some documentaries on other
pro athletes and how they made it to the top," he
said. "Most of them were similar in the way their
fathers forced them to keep doing what they did well, which
was exactly what happened for me."

Bottom helped convince Cavic, years later as a high school
senior, to further his swimming at UC Berkeley. By the
time Cavic arrived in the East Bay, he had already participated
in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

"The most important factor (in choosing UC Berkeley)
was my feeling for the relationship I would have with my
coach," said Cavic. "The second factor was the
education and prestige. I knew that if I ever became injured
and could not continue my career in swimming, I would have
the opportunity to graduate with a strong diploma, which
would help me feel more secure about my future."

Although Cavic was raised in the United States, he said
his parents have instilled in him a pride for his background
and for Serbia, and he holds dual citizenship in both places.

He's on the team for Serbia-Montenegro, in part, he said,
to help "put it on the map for swimming."

Bottom called Cavic "an incredibly talented athlete" who
will qualify to swim the 100-meter long course butterfly
and the 50-meter freestyle at the Olympics. "But they're
both on the same day, half an hour apart," said Bottom, "and
it's really difficult to try to swim them both. You can't
do both, do well in both."

Being on this summer's Olympic team has given Cavic, who
broke the world record in the 100-meter butterfly in the
European Short Course Swimming Championships last December
representing Serbia-Montenegro, a "perk," he
said. " I'm somewhat famous (in that country). People
there recognize me everywhere I go, and it makes me feel
good about what I'm doing."

Cavic wears Cal gear when he's overseas, he said, particularly
a Cal baseball cap. "I usually end up giving away
most of what I brought with me from Cal because people
just want it," he said. "It's always fun coming
back to Serbia the next year and seeing people wearing
those things."

Few are as competitive

Draganja, 21, was born in the Croatian city of Split,
one of the oldest cities on the Adriatic coast and a place
with a long tradition in sports. Like Cavic, he began swimming
at age 6 and also was recruited at age 17 by Bottom to
attend UC Berkeley. He left his entire family behind in
Croatia.

"I chose Berkeley because of the diversity and the
academics," he said. "Berkeley is a well-known
school in the world, and everybody advised me to go there."

Bottom said Draganja brings a "great spirit" to
UC Berkeley's men's swim team. "He's funny and always
makes you laugh," he said. "He's always lighthearted,
and yet he's so competitive. I don't know of many people
as competitive as Duje."

Earlier this year at the NCAA Championships, Draganja
broke the world record in the short course 100-meter freestyle.
But when he saw that American Ian Crocker also had broken
the world record, but with a faster time, Draganja was
dejected, Bottom said.

"When he touched the wall … I was there," said
Bottom, "and I put my face in his face to tell him
how great he was, how great he did, that I didn't want
to see a look of dejection on someone who just broke a
world record."

"For him, it's not enough," he said, "He
has to be number one."

Draganja said he expects to swim in the Olympics in the
400-meter freestyle relay, the 100-meter butterfly, and
the 50- and 100-meter freestyle. " My best event," he
said, "is the 100 freestyle."

He knows he may swim against his pal, Cavic, in a race
or two, and added, "He is a great swimmer, and I enjoy
training and competing against him."

If Draganja has his way, he'll wear his Cal swim cap in
Athens. "I always wear my Cal cap whenever I want,
but the Olympics is a special case. But I will try."

As they readied to travel to Greece, both Cavic and Draganja
said they felt a bit nervous, but prepared to compete.

Like Cavic, Draganja has participated in the Olympics
before – at the 2000 games in Sydney - "so there's
no reason to panic," he said. "I consider the
Olympics just another meet, and that way I don't put pressure
on myself. After all, I'm pretty young and can go on to
another Olympics if I want."

But Cavic simply glows when looking ahead to Athens.

"This is the summer we've dreamed would come again
after four years, and now, finally, it's here," he
said. "It's time to put our abilities to the ultimate
test."

•

For information on Cal Olympians
in Athens – when they'll compete, in which events,
and how well they do – go to CalBears.com and click
on 2004
Cal Olympians. Information
is not currently available on each Cal Olympian, especially
those competing for countries other than the
United States. Also check NBC
Olympics.com for TV listings, schedules for each sport, and more.